.@Olivianuzzi on the president in dier straits https://t.co/DF295S3FIe pic.twitter.com/4uK2u5QKWd
— Chas Danner (@chasdanner) October 10, 2020
Give the public what they want, Donny — a big state funeral. Professional journamalistic assassin remains professional.
Trigger warning to coulrophobiacs: The header illo is fantastic, but it almost freaked me out…
… In the hospital, Trump’s world shrank overnight in a way it hadn’t since he arrived in Washington from New York to be sworn into office nearly four years ago. Contagious and isolated from his family and closest aides, he was accompanied by Dan Scavino, the social-media director who had first been his caddie and had survived at his side longer than anyone who wasn’t blood, and Mark Meadows, his highly emotional chief of staff, who slept in a room nearby, and was attended to by a team of camera-conscious doctors. In this sterilized confinement, he tried to distract himself from his illness. He plotted his escape, planned public-relations stunts, watched TV, and took calls from friends, members of his staff, and Republican lawmakers. But he remained consumed by what the doctors told him about his chances of survival. It wasn’t a sure thing…
Statistically, the coronavirus is more likely to cost Donald Trump the White House than his life, though the threat to the latter isn’t helping the former. A little more than three weeks before the election, potentially contagious and freaking everybody out, Trump faces what looks like the end of his presidency. “He’s mishandled the coronavirus, he’s never been popular, and he’s gonna lose badly. I think it’s pretty simple,” a senior Republican official said. “Of course he was going to say, ‘Oh look, I feel great! Look how badly I beat this puny little virus!’ Meanwhile, it touches every American’s life every day in multiple different ways, and he’s handled it badly and people don’t forget that.” Or, as ex–Trump adviser Sam Nunberg put it, “Everything has just completely gone to shit.”…
“If the president had his way, he’d be back in February,” Newt Gingrich told me. The former Speaker of the House is an opportunist, and in the era of Donald Trump, that means he must be an optimist. In 2016, Gingrich supported Trump’s campaign in the hope that he’d be asked to be the vice-president. Instead, Trump repaid his loyalty not with power or higher status in history but with the cushiest gig in Europe: He made Gingrich the husband of the United States ambassador to the Vatican, based in Rome. Before the pandemic, whenever you’d call the guy, he was in a loud restaurant — “Hi! Yeah?! This is Newt!” — having the time of his life. So one might understand why he’s invested in keeping this whole thing going.
Gingrich grasps better than most how to stick to a message, and he keeps a straight face on Trump’s behalf even as he argues things he knows cannot be true. That voter surveys are skewed by the left-wing media. “I think the election is not quite like the public-opinion polls,” he says. That the president’s illness is a political asset. “It gives him a better understanding of what people are going through,” he says. Or that the president doesn’t mean to imply those killed by the virus were weak when he says he’ll beat it because he’s strong. “I think he’s talking about a national attitude. Should it be ‘Hunker down in the basement’ or ‘Reopen the schools’?” he says. Still, he cannot help but break character to admit the obvious: “If the president had his way, there’d be no virus. There’d be historically high employment among Blacks and Latinos. But you don’t get to pick the circumstances in which you run.”…
A senior White House official told me there has been an ongoing effort to persuade the president not to do any of this, as there always is during his episodes of advanced mania. Asked what the effort looked like this time, with Trump physically removed from most of the people who might try to calm him down, the official said, “Well, for starters, it’s unsuccessful.”…
It's gonna be funny when the truth about Trump's health finally comes out and Dr. Conley is dishonorably discharged from the Navy.
— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) October 9, 2020
ThresherK
Danner’s tweet at the top:
Is dier straits a Freudian slip?
(ETA: Apparently not, as the tweet is about Trump’s use of the word “dier” as “one who dies”. But it’s good wordplay.)
dmsilev
Read this yesterday, and was pretty sure you’d be doing a post featuring it sooner or later…
dmsilev
@ThresherK: It’s a pun on some unusual choices of vocabulary by Trump:
ThresherK
@dmsilev: Yep, I broke the First Law of the Internet and didn’t click thru. Edited to show as such.
Fascinating to think of the axiom “Live every day as if it were your last” and how Trump has spent each day of the last week.
trollhattan
@ThresherK:
Plus, the man is in need of a strait jacket.
trollhattan
@dmsilev:
Similar to how he managed to wring bigly out of big league. Covfefe has yet to be explained.
oatler.
D’yer mak’er
Wapiti
@trollhattan: Nah, he seems fine to me. There’s no reason to suggest that he can’t assist in his defense in criminal court next year.
Yutsano
Does anyone actually believe he’s out of the woods? I don’t.
RandomMonster
Did any crowd turn out for Covigula’s infection orgy?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@trollhattan:
Funny thing about “Covfefe”. When the Kentucky Derby was on TV, I saw a woman (a rider?) wearing a Covfefe ballcap
JPL
Conley is obeying orders from the Commander in Chief. He will probably retire if Biden is elected, in order to avoid further humiliation.
Wag
@RandomMonster: Covigula FTW.
eric
@JPL: while true, i believe he can still be punished if the military so desired if he lied in violation of his oaths
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@RandomMonster:
It was only a few hundred people when 2000 had been invited. It basically was this scene from The Quiet Earth
Achrachno
@ThresherK: If he turns blue it might not be because he got into the woad!
L85NJGT
@RandomMonster:
Maybe a couple hundred fools.
RandomMonster
@Wag: Inspiration out of nowhere!
Wag
@RandomMonster: The best kind of inspiration!
Ken
No that unusual. Toddlers pass through a stage where they don’t know a word, try to coin one using the grammar they’ve learned, and are given the right word by their parents. What that may mean about the state of Trump’s brain is left as an exercise for the reader.
opiejeanne
There was an interesting and long thread one Twitter this morning comparing Toxoplasmosis and how it affects rats, and the Trump cult. I don’t know how to search Twitter for it, though. If I run across it, I’ll post a link, or would appreciate if someone else knows how to locate it
I found it:
Nick Carmody JD, MS Psych
@Nick_Carmody
·
Oct 27, 2019
After recently observing that Trump has had a “Cluster B” , Typhoid Mary-like effect on society, I had an interesting observation regarding Trump’s cult following….1/
Another Scott
David Atkins at WaMo:
(Emphasis added.)
Least surprising thing, ever… Grrr…
It’s not over yet. No matter what happens, we must vote the monsters out!!
Cheers,
Scott.
John Revolta
Remember when W. said “I’m the decider”?
The GOP isn’t sending their best.
Ken
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): And not much longer than that scene. As the Doctor once (more or less) said, “Don’t you think he looks tired?”
Achrachno
@Achrachno: Dyers woad
I’m too obscure sometimes, even for me
A Ghost to Most
@RandomMonster: Candace Owens led a crew of paid supporters. 200?
Mustang Bobby
When Harry Cohn, the much-hated head of Paramount Pictures died, there was a huge funeral attended by practically everyone who was anyone in Hollywood. When someone told Tony Randall they were surprised by such a turn-out for such a reviled man, Randall replied with the old show-biz maxim: “Give the people what they want, they’ll show up.”
CaseyL
@opiejeanne: Even toxoplasmosis requires physical contact with something; i.e., kitty doots.
What Trump spread is a metavirus, which seems to infect anyone who watches RW media long enough. It’s like a self-perpetuating mass hypnosis/mass hysteria.
Elizabelle
“Hopped up like a Belgian racing pigeon.”
I love that description. What former WH person would talk like that? It’s really descriptive language, wtih an f-bomb thrown in, too. [Like Kellyanne Conway used with her teenaged daughter.] Also “Jesus take the wheel,” and am guessing this is not one of the born agains; it’s more a pejorative comment.
Is it that 11-day communications director, and his name escapes me now?
The passage, arrives right after the Gingrich stuff Anne Laurie excerpted:
Ohio Mom
Yutsano: Is Trump out of the woods? Who could say, we are not his doctors and so do not have enough information.
But I think every day he gets closer to the edge of the forest.That is, the longer he goes without a relapse, the less likely a relapse. So far, so good, from Trump’s perspective.
And let’s face it, the man
has been uncannily lucky in his life thus far. He’s a complete failure and criminal who nevertheless managed to make it into the Oval Office. Yes, he had Russian help but that is a function of his luck. Everything aligned for him. He has been in the right place at the right time.
I am hoping his lucky streak runs out November 3, but in the mean time, it looks like he has enough luck to survive Covid.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ohio Mom:
Fine by me. I don’t want him to die before the election anyway
trollhattan
Trump back on the WH balcony, yelling at his minions below. I expected him to break into, “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina.”
Elizabelle
And a Mary Trump quote, further down — and may Trump indeed go to prison for the rest of his life:
Gravenstone
@ThresherK: Yeah, my eyes were immediately drawn to that as well. But of course the subsequent article showed it was intended and its origin. Poor Donnie, finally forced to confront his mortality and an opponent he can’t simply bully to go away. Let us savor …
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ken:
Trump, honestly, has not looked well for the past week or so
MattF
NYT:
Not at all manicky.
Gravenstone
@Another Scott: So the family appears to remain actively infectious. That’s making her look more and more like Patient Zero of this whole clusterfuck.
Yutsano
@Ohio Mom: I’m still not convinced, but we’ll have to see. Who knows how this virus works, how hopped up he is on drugs etc. I still think a collapse could happen. People have felt better, gone back to living for a few days to a week, then fall apart fast. But what happens from here is *shrug
Gin & Tonic
I’m seeing on the Twitters that the people who turned out for today’s WH event were paid to do so.
HumboldtBlue
When will we see the first positives from today’s Covichella?
feebog
Trump may make it through his illness, but I’m wondering what the reaction would be if someone in immediate circle bites it. We have not heard a single word about the Third Lady. Why is that? Privacy concerns or perhaps she has a pretty serious case. Chris Christy is still in the hospital and it would not be surprising to see him ride off into the sunset. We already know a senior staffer is gravely ill. Would it just shrink his already crumbling support, or something worse?
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle:
Scaramucci?
MattF
@feebog: Christy has left the hospital.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gravenstone:
She claimed to have tested positive “sometime in the summer”. Summer wasn’t that long ago. Barrett isn’t being very transparent imo about when she stopped testing negative and was no longer infectious
Gravenstone
@Gin & Tonic: Hopefully that payment was enough to cover potential future hospital expenses. With a rider to pay their next of kin where appropriate.
Of course it was probably just scale for the out of work actors who actually ended up filling those roles.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you. I get his name and Scavino mixed up.
Gotta remember the “Belgian Racing Pigeon” quip, though.
Ken
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Wait, you should wait for a negative test before acting like you’re not infectious? Why aren’t these important facts being communicated?
Ohio Mom
Yutsano: it’s not like I have a vote on this but I have nothing against Trump going at anytime — though after being squashed in the election would be my preference.
Will I shrug? I will probably lean out the front door banging on a pot because I don’t own any fireworks.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Gravenstone:
They were probably forced to sign those COVID-19 legal waivers before being hired
Dorothy A. Winsor
Do we have any more idea of why Pence returned to DC rather than voting in Indiana?
Elizabelle
@Yutsano: @Ohio Mom:
I am a mean person, but I hope Trump is still laid low by this disease that he belittles. That it roars back and kicks his ass, no matter how much advanced medicine is available to his traitorous self.
If life were fair, he’d be taking a ride like poor Nick Cordero (the late Broadway star) right now.
debbie
@John Revolta:
“Deciderer.” Even better.
Ruckus
@John Revolta:
Actually, they are…..
MisterForkbeard
@Gravenstone: We should get more detail on this, really. Did all of her kids get tests before and after the SC event? Did their teachers actually get COVID? Etc.
TS (the original)
@Yutsano:
The Australian ABC (government media) – well whoever wrote this report, seems to think he is dog’s gift to everyone
And all written as if he were sane & a viable president*. No link, it’s just a regurgitation of his speech.
Miss Bianca
@RandomMonster: OMG, I cpuld hug you for “Covigula”.
Except for obvious circumstances, of course
Wag
@Ken: That’s not true. The tests don’t test for intact able to replicate virus, they test for genetic evidence of the virus. Patients can continue to test positive by PCR for weeks after thy are no longer contagious. Return to society is dictated by days since fever without antipyretic (fever reducing) medication. Even at this late date we do not have enough PCR tests to squander them repeatedly testing patient previously shown to be positive.
Keith P.
@ThresherK: How about “Dier von Satan”?
HumboldtBlue
Dad just asked our brother why he hasn’t gotten any texts, have we not been chatting as a family? My brother said no, we’ve been going at it all day.
Pop had his phone in airplane mode.
RobertDSC-Mac Mini
They’re going to have to send UV-light emitting robots all through the White House before Biden takes office. The place has been stained by the Orange Menace.
Ohio Mom
HumboldtBlue: it was either that or on Silent, and not hearing any pings.
RandomMonster
@Miss Bianca: Please do!
HumboldtBlue
@Ohio Mom:
He just told us all to shut up. Hee hee.
Ken
What ever happened to that horrible proposal by the Senate Republicans to shield all employers from COVID liability?
dmsilev
@MattF: Let me guess: someone gave Trump a collection of Ben Garrison cartoons, and Trump thought they were literally true.
Haroldo
@TS (the original):
The ABC’s Washington Bureau Chief, whose name eludes me, is horrible, as is anyone on their news website who attempts analysis of US politics.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@TS (the original):
The Australian government is pretty right-wing atm. I wonder how they’ll cover a potential Biden administration
Ken
@Wag: My apologies, I thought there was a test to show a person wasn’t actively shedding viral particles.
Baud
@Ken:
Dems are fighting it.
Geminid
Did any Texas jackals see the Hegar/Cornyn debate, and want to comment? I’ve read some about it, but I’d like to hear what people on the ground think.
NotMax
Starting to feel as if suffering from schadenfreude fatigue.
@Archracno
Then there’s the short cut, otherwise referred to in the trade as the woad not taken.
:)
Other MJS
@trollhattan:
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/10/the-truth-is-i-will-infect-you-lincoln-project-mocks-trumps-covita-photo-op-with-blistering-parody/
Jay
@Gravenstone:
a Scaramucchi is a measurement of 15 days of time.
a Friedman Unit is a measurement of 6 months of time.
A Cheetolini Unit is 5 minutes between Dunning Kruger tweets.
snoey
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Somebody named a very good racehorse Covfefe.
Why? Your guess is as good as mine.
Geoduck
The Shiatgibbon evidently only blathered on the balcony for about fifteen minutes before retreating back inside. Not proof or anything, but a sign maybe he’s not nearly back to full strength.
Kathleen
@RobertDSC-Mac Mini: I’m thinking more like exorcist.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ken:
Probably, as Baud says, being fought by House Dems. I really shudder to think what would’ve happened had Dems not reclaimed the House in 2018
MattF
@dmsilev: More likely, it’s the toddler/Trump wanting to be big and scary. The toddlers I’ve known, however, tend more to the Hulk— Superman these days is rather noir.
JoyceH
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
I don’t think it was Barrett, I think Trump himself is Patient Zero. Look, the week before the Rose Garden thing, he and Hicks traveled to a few events with Ronna McDaniel, who was infected but didn’t yet know it. I think she infected them both.
And I think Trump as Patient Zero makes sense because SO MANY people were infected at this one event. If it were some junior staffer, they might infect a few, but everybody wants their face time with the president.
Ken
@RobertDSC-Mac Mini: @Kathleen: Burn it down. It’s the only way to be sure.
Besides, it’s happened before so it’s practically a tradition. Biden could invite the Queen over to light the match.
Alison Rose
@MattF: OMG thank you, I needed that laugh.
JPL
Since Matt beat me, I’m changing it to… Imagine in a sully voice someone saying Sir, I know SuperMan and you’re not SuperMan
Jay
Captain C
@Jay:
Specifically, “just six more months [and everything will then be ginger-peachy, even though it’s shit now]”
Jack Canuck
@TS (the original): The ABC’s American politics coverage is awful. Every time I make the mistake of clicking on one of those stories I get so angry at how bad their analysis and framing is. I’m a big supporter of the ABC and public broadcasters in general, but holy hell do they get that stuff wrong in ways that are so obvious for anyone who’s got any knowledge of what’s happening.
Villago Delenda Est
Conley will be dismissed for the good of the service. That’s what happens to officers. It is the equivalent of being dishonorably discharged, though, but with an added kick in the teeth.
Sister Golden Bear
@Ken: Obligatory Aliens clip.
Jay
Karma calling,
Haroldo
@Jack Canuck:
I agree with you save one analyst who I heard on, I think, Radio National, maybe last week. (Alas, I didn’t catch his name) It was a concise evisceration of Trump and his refusal to deal with the pandemic, in spite of his being a vector.
Mallard Filmore
@RobertDSC-Mac Mini:
There is no pressing need to quickly occupy the building. The best thing to do is seal it, wait 2 weeks for the virus to die, then deep clean, scan for Russian bugs, and count the silverware.
Villago Delenda Est
@Jay: Co-founded by megashitweasel Fucker Swanson. Garbage from the getgo.
lamh36
Great new Biden ad with 14 African American Mayor across the country!
https://twitter.com/flywithkamala/status/1314943140462198791?s=21
Here is another tapping into a voting demo that often gets over looked for their white counterparts…HBCU college student voters!
https://twitter.com/kamalaharris/status/1314929624342769664?s=21
Jay
Keep in mind, it’s the Beach Taliban endorsing Dumph, not the guys in Afghanistan still fighting.
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
Which is crazy. There may not be a crisis, but there’s always the possibility of a crisis. This is precisely why it’s reasonable to focus on character at least as much as policy. Policy is heavily dictated by Congress, and pre-election policy platforms rarely make it through unscathed. But character tells you how a candidate will perform in an inevitable crisis.
IMO, this was one of the things that killed John McCain in 2008. It was a rare election where a crisis hit during the height of the campaigning season, and the electorate got to see the candidates mettle. Obama stood the test, and McCain didn’t. I honestly wonder if that was part of the reason he crashed a couple of times in the navy; inability to handle an unexpected crisis is a bad character trait for a pilot.
Steeplejack
@RobertDSC-Mac Mini:
They’re going to have to sage the whole place as well.
trollhattan
@Other MJS:
Jeez, scooped again! Or GMTA, I’ll accept Door #2.
ETA he really has gone full Mussolini.
Mai Naem mobile
@JPL: Trumpov will die within the next few years and Conley will get to write a book and make big $$$. I doubt he will lose his pension even if he’s kicked out dishonorably. He’s betting he may get disciplined by a medical board but won’t lose his license and at worst he’ll find a job in a desperate for docs rural area. He also might become a FOX Nooz doc and make big $$$.
trollhattan
@Jay:
Wonder if the sheriff has considered, “There are a lot of people angry with the sheriff.”
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@snoey:
Oh! I was worried it was some sort of secret signal for Trump supporters
JoyceH
@Steeplejack: Servpro. “Like it never even happened.”
Jim
Why do some people call Olivia Nuzzi a “journalist assassin” — or something like that? I tried googling versions of the phrase, to no avail. Did she ruin someone’s reputation?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@trollhattan:
Doubt it. The locals probably all love him
piratedan
@lamh36: tyvm for those links to those ads, I really enjoyed it.
debbie
@JoyceH:
He sounded like shit at that event. I think he had a pretty bad infection going on at that time.
debbie
@MattF:
Too weak to rip the shirt buttons off?
Ken
@Jay: What is a “Beach Taliban”?
Ksmiami
@Yutsano: dead by December from dex and Covid complications
mad citizen
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Indy-adjacent Hoosier here. I don’t know if there was communication between Pence’s team and Indiana officials (who are Republican), but I read that Pence was listing the Governor’s mansion as his address. But of course he doesn’t own that nor lives there. He has no other address in Indiana, so apparently can’t vote here. Embarrassing! This should be elevated in the media.
Was thinking that a pardon deal would be very attractive to Pence–got to be a big difference between the pension for a VP (if there is any at all) and a President. That one elevation in office will probably cost taxpayers a fair amount over time, if it happens.
debbie
@Jay:
I didn’t realize it was Daily Caller reporters who were beaten up. Is there any bigger cheerleader for law and order than the Daily Caller? What a fuck up!
TS (the original)
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Mini trump is the Australian PM & has been attacking states that do not support him since about June.
But the ABC is supposedly independent, and until the past few years really were. They have lost funding to the extent that I think their online presence is run by a couple of kids in the family basement (not that there are many basements in Australia – but you get the meaning).
Ksmiami
@Mallard Filmore: do we seal in the dregs of this administration too? Maybe leave one happy meal so Meadows and Miller have a deathmatch
Ken
@mad citizen: Seriously? He had no other residence in Indiana while he was governor, and moved from the governor’s mansion to the VP residence?
That means in January, he’ll be homeless. In DC. I’ve worked at a homeless shelter in DC (church work trip), Pence will not do well there.
A Ghost to Most
@JoyceH: That certainly fits the timeline. Not their timeline, which is complete horseshit.
JoyceH
@debbie: They couldn’t find a Superman shirt big enough.
mad citizen
Re: Pence and voting, I googled it, and one of our tv station verifies questions. Indiana law allows people to vote if they are out of state but “intend” to come back to our lovely state. There was a to-do with Evan Bayh years ago, but he maintained an address in Indiana (IIRC it was an apartment).
Pence is listing the Governor’s mansion as his last legal address, but doesn’t own it. So is it the case that TWO politicians (and their wives, Pence’s children) can use this same address to vote (past and current Governor)? Article says this hasn’t been tested in court.
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/verify/verify-vice-president-mike-pence-voting-indiana-residency-decision-2020/531-7263ea6e-2174-4346-b176-55c9b10fea76
debbie
@JoyceH:
Or his tiny hands weren’t strong enough to rip open the shirt.
John Revolta
@Jay: I assume that’s the same bozo who claimed they weren’t trying to *kidnap* her, they were just gonna make a *citizen’s arrest*. I guarantee that jerk had prior knowledge of this and is trying to cover his ass because he knows that he’s in a fuckton of trouble.
rikyrah
Renie
@Another Scott: I think that’s why Graham refused to take a COVID test and had his debate with Harrison cancelled. Also probably why Grassley refuses to take the test.
James E Powell
Trump was in the hospital with COVID a week ago and now there are right-wingers talking like he’s going to have negative tests this week. Is that possible? What kind of test would that be?
Ken
@Jay: The related tweets point out that more people have filed for unemployment this year than voted for Trump in 2016.
2016 election (wikipedia): 62,984,828 Trump votes
Initial unemployment claims, Jan through Oct 3: 66,018,000
Elizabelle
@Roger Moore: Good points on McCain. Could be. Being an admiral’s son may have put him on a trajectory he would not have reached on his own. (The numerous aircraft. Although, wartime.)
John McCain did show character and courage several times when it really counted (POW, the ACA vote, standing up to the bozos in his party on several occasions — do not forget that he was going up against the religious right in 2000 primaries — against W, the chosen son — until McCain fell back into line; quite sure he agreed with Barry Goldwater’s take on them).
Interesting that Arizona may be about to have its own professional astronaut Senator. Please please please.
HumboldtBlue
@mad citizen:
This is interesting and appears far from settled.
mad citizen
@Ken: Ken you are hilarious. I was also thinking while I was outside how ironic it would be if Trump is completely upside down with his massive debt, Pence obtains a presidential pension, and ends up having more money than Trump in the end. Pence of course is not wealthy at all now or before. That’s one reason why he lived in the governor’s mansion. Mitch Daniels had been a Eli Lilly exec, and he eschewed the Gov. mansion and instead lived in his own houses first on the far NE side of Indy (Geist Reservoir near me), then in Carmel. He took some flak for it, and there was an article saying Mitch said the mansion was rundown, etc.
I was wondering what the Michigan militia guys’ plan was to get to Mackinac Island to Whitmer’s summer house (MI gov. summer house as I understand it). They probably wouldn’t have met much resistance once they got to the island–until they met MI security at the house, but they had to get there first. Were they going to take one of the public ferry boats?
Elizabelle
@James E Powell: Tests for character? Courage? Honesty? Loyalty? Patriotism?
WRT the virus, he is on his own.
SiubhanDuinne
@lamh36:
Those are both terrific ads!
James E Powell
@rikyrah:
Remember when Maggie Haberman was calling Joe Biden a “very flawed candidate” who was “running a flawed campaign so far”? That was in June.
MattF
@rikyrah: It’s almost as though… experience, intelligence, empathy, competence matter.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@mad citizen: Interesting. These people carp on “cheating voters” and turn out to be cheating themselves.
Kay
PPCLI
@HumboldtBlue: Voter Fraud!!!
MisterForkbeard
@James E Powell: I think if Trump was positive far in advance of his actual diagnosis this is actually possible. We’d know this for sure if he was taking tests regularly, which it appears he wasn’t.
But if he was infected back around the 20th, then HE was probably the superspreader at Coney Barrett’s viral love-in. And it lines up appropriately with all the other dates, including being rushed to the hospital and his subsequent ‘recovery’.
Again, this would be easy to disprove with a record of negative test results, which they won’t release.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Always.
chopper
@Jay:
man brian wilson really got nuts with those side projects
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@James E Powell: Like the SATs he’ll pay someone to take the Covid test for him.
Ken
@Dorothy A. Winsor: There were also some questions about Trump’s Florida registration, since he listed a business address for his residence.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@Kay: Only the best people
WaterGirl
@PPCLI: My first thought, too. So for Pence, just like the ex-felons in Florida, right?
If you aren’t certain whether you have paid all your fines but you think you have, so you vote. But if it turns out that you didn’t have the right to vote after all because of some double-secret fine they couldn’t tell you that you owed, you go back to jail.
mad citizen
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Yes! I need to correct something I wrote–the local (Marion) county clerk for Indianapolis (which has Uni-Gov brought to you by Richard Lugar which combined city and county stuff–mostly) is a Democrat, so maybe the Pences’ are running into resistance from her.
And we should say most of these clerks try to do their jobs in a nonpartisan way, etc. But I know Marion Co. is trying to make it easier to vote, not harder. That seems to be a partisan thing now.
WaterGirl
@MisterForkbeard: If Trump tests negative too early, he may out himself as patient zero. No wonder they haven’t wanted to test him.
Bill Arnold
@mad citizen:
You might want to read this thread. Long, and very funny if you like opsec humor. It lovingly vivisects the Keystone Kidnappers’ plot:
Ken
@Kay: Lord, another list to keep track of.
HumboldtBlue
@PPCLI:
I believe that’s the reason they returned to DC. He was scheduled to vote on Friday in Indiana and I wonder if this wasn’t an obstacle.
BTW as to your nym PPCLI, Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry?
piratedan
@Ken: I’m waiting for the 2021 version of which members of the GOP (and Media) participated in Treason in using Russian money and intel for their 2016 election.
TS (the original)
@HumboldtBlue:
And what does Pence know about voting by mail in Indiana that he has to visit rather than use an absentee vote?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@piratedan: “All of them Katie.”
catclub
Run for office like Ronny jackson
FTFY
HumboldtBlue
It appears Trump’s crowd was a gang of paid actors.
HumboldtBlue
@TS (the original):
Good point.
Kay
@Ken:
They ALL say self defense now and she is too. Wah wah wah. I’m the victim.
Ken
@HumboldtBlue: The matching shirts and hats were clues that this wasn’t a completely spontaneous outpouring of love and support for Dear Leader.
bluehill
@HumboldtBlue: Have yet to see one accusation from repubs that hasn’t foretold something they end up doing. It’s almost like they make up an accusation and then think “hey, that’s a good idea!”
A Ghost to Most
RWNJ false patriots faced off with lefties in Denver today. At the end, fascist maced a leftie, and was promptly shot dead. The Cletus Army is ENRAGED in DenPo comments.
Ken
@bluehill: The theory is that the accusations are for crimes they’re already committing, but I can readily imagine the reverse happening once in a while.
HumboldtBlue
@Ken:
They had the tint of the Covid virus image about them as well.
The Moar You Know
@Mallard Filmore: You have just pointed out the true risk here. In addition to hunting out physical listening devices and cameras, which I would bet my last dime are there, every single network that touches the White House’s internal network as well as the internal network itself are going to have to be at a minimum deep scanned for malware and rootkits, or (if I were handling it) destroyed. It’s going to take at least weeks to insure that it’s not compromised and probably a lot longer. Arrangements are going to have to be made for the Bidens to work and live elsewhere. Probably for months.
A Ghost to Most
@The Moar You Know:
Blair House as well.
gwangung
@The Moar You Know: That should be infuriating to any patriot. These third class books care nothing about security and allowed easy access for foreign powers to anything in the White House.
TS (the original)
@A Ghost to Most:
The 2nd amendment only applies to white male republicans.
Kathleen
@Ken: The War of 1812 – A CosPlay!
Jeffro
@HumboldtBlue: I think, just for my own amusement, I’m going to write an op-ed called, “What if the guy LITERALLY has no real support?”
I mean sure, 5-10% maybe. But what if everything else is just fake, paid-for, people fooling around when pollsters call, Russian hacking/pumping up his numbers, etc?
I’m serious. What if the country started asking around and sure enough, almost no one could be found who actually supports this clown?
(which will kind of be the case on 11/4, but still… ;)
Nicole
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
@snoey: is correct, Covfefe was the champion 3 year old filly and sprinter of 2019 (retired this year, and bred to a horse named… Constitution. Which seems apropos somehow). Terrific racehorse. Here she is winning the Filly & Mare Sprint last year at the Breeders Cup:
https://www.nbcsports.com/video/2019-breeders-cup-covfefe-wins-filly-and-mare-sprint
FWIW, Covfefe’s owner said she did not vote for Trump.
J R in WV
@Ken:
Those are the high level members of the Taliban currently in Qater, or one of those Persian Gulf nations, where negotiations between the “Taliban” and the not-Taliban governments are taking place.
In other words, members of the Taliban not in the mountains of Afghanistan, but at the beach. Tragic for those guys!
206inKY
@Yutsano: I don’t think he’s out of the woods. I just hope he signs a stimulus package before he goes back to Walter Reed. The counteroffer from Mnuchin seems fine, even if we have to swallow the corporate liability waiver to get Mitch on board. Frankly the administration has given such horrible mixed messages that any covid lawsuits will be impossible to win, since companies can just point to the changing federal guidance. But there’s zero chance of stimulus after the election unless we retake the Senate too.
McGrath has finally started running some great ads slamming Trump for insulting the military. Up until last week I was seeing a barrage of youtube ads with supporters of Trump bashing Mitch for being insufficiently Trumpian, whereas in Louisville the ads were focused on hemp. But something clicked and now she’s going hard and very effectively against Trump.
Jeffro
@The Moar You Know: I hope they never live there, honestly. I wouldn’t. Sterilize it and turn it into a museum. Let the Bidens find a bigger, modern, more secure facility, uncontaminated by the Ill Douche’s previous presence.
HumboldtBlue
They are literally trying to kill their base. Clip from Pence’s rally.
rikyrah
This made me happy ???
Kathleen
@Steeplejack: Some epic smudging.
dmsilev
@HumboldtBlue: Don’t be too hasty. Technically they’re not paid if the checks end up bouncing.
Kathleen
@rikyrah: “We’re not gonna be IGNORED, Joe”,
Baud
@Jeffro:
I say, make rehabing the White House an HGTV show. I would watch the shit out of that.
Jay
@Villago Delenda Est:
yurp, ran Copaganda constantly,
but now that their “reporters” got the shit beat out of them, on video, during one of the many ongoing KKKop Riots,
Suddenly they are upset. Leopards Eating Faces propaganda site suddenly concerned after Leopards ate their faces.
Another Scott
@MisterForkbeard:
My recollection is that Donnie has only admitted to having maybe 2 COVID-19 PCR tests, back in the spring or so. He didn’t like having the swab stuck up his nose.
CNN from July 21:
Since they lie about everything, it would be in character for him for those to be done infrequently and sloppily.
Ockham’s Razor says that he wasn’t being tested and/or they ignored/burned/buried the positive result(s) until that reporter blew the whistle on Hicks’s infection and they could no longer pretend. That’s why they haven’t said when he was last negative.
Cheers,
Scott.
pattonbt
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): thankfully the labour premier in WA has done so well with coronavirus (made easier of course by geography and a somewhat standalone economy which is in a good cycle) that the liberal (conservative) party could be on life support here. And WA is usually a liberal stronghold.
Nationally, it will all rest on whether people remember Morrison’s debacles on the brush fires. He’s done OK on coronavirus.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
@HumboldtBlue: It appears Trump’s wives were a gang of paid professionals
Ken
One of Pence’s lines was “Say no to socialized medicine,” spoken to a crowd of people on Medicare. If the Republicans don’t kill them directly with COVID, they’ll do it more slowly by neglect.
Felanius Kootea
Early voting now stands at 9 million or 6.5% of the entire 2016 voter turnout. 55.7% of early voters in states that record that info registered as dems, 24.1% reps, 19.4% no party affiliation. Brings a smile to my face. I’m a CA early voter – did a dance after I dropped off my ballot. The end is in sight but we can’t take anything for granted.
JanieM
@rikyrah:
Me to, and I needed it. Thanks for posting it!
burnspbesq
ICYMI, the Lincoln Project’s finest hour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej19lEizSk0
Jay
@Ken:
Beach Talibs are the “leadership” in exile kicking back, living the good life, on the beaches of the UAE on the Emirates dime.
Many of them havn’t been in Afghanistan since 2001.
They arn’t the guys doing the fighting and the guys doing the fighting pay no attention to them.
A Ghost to Most
Colorado ballots arrived today, and we’re filling them out. Bank 4 more for Biden and Hickenlooper.
Kay
@Felanius Kootea:
The only thing that worries me is that state polling wasn’t just off in 2016. It was off again in 2018, in both Florida and Ohio, in the governors races. Now if Biden’s up 8, 9 or 10 nationally it won’t matter much, he’ll probably get the states he needs anyway, but it does bother me. OTOH the state polling in ’18 was accurate in MI and WI, so maybe this was just a FL/OH governor thing.
Felanius Kootea
@Kay: I’m counting on him winning with the Hillary states plus PA, WI, and MI and not needing Florida or Ohio. Biden’s polling in those states looks solid, barring anything crazy happening in the next few weeks (which is why I’m happy so many early votes are already banked).
Baud
@Kay:
In general, I thought polling underestimated Dem wins in 2018.
HumboldtBlue
@rikyrah:
This one from further down the thread is a jewel as well.
Kay
@Felanius Kootea:
Right, me too and I think everyone can quit worrying about MI completely, but state polling didn’t improve much between 16 and 18 if they got two governors races wrong, is my point. They poll OH and FL all the time. They should know how to do it. Something went wrong there.
James E Powell
So I see on twitter that would-be justice Barrett “initially failed to disclose” her anti-abortion speeches and signing the anti-abortion ad. This is bullshit. She totally failed to disclose either thing until other people brought it up.
There were speeches she gave on the subject on youtube that have since been removed. If this were a Democratic nominee, the NYT would be on fire.
Peale
@Mallard Filmore: they shouldn’t move in until it’s been throughly checked for wires and bugs. Their security protocols have been lacking from the moment they invited the Russian ambassador over.
debbie
@rikyrah:
I’m exhausted just watching!
Kay
@Baud:
Cordray was up the whole last month, then he lost by almost 5. Five is a lot in Ohio. It’s not that close. They were way off.
geg6
@Jeffro:
Nope. Not giving up the people’s house just because that scumbag has left his cooties and bugs planted by Russia, China and Saudi Arabia. Fuck that shit. It’s our house, our history and our treasures. No way I’m letting him take that away from the Bidens and from us. No fucking way.
hueyplong
@Another Scott: Trump have away the game when he said he didn’t like the test.
After the first test or half dozen tests he quit being tested altogether, and in his ignorant way trusted the fact that people brought into his presence were tested a lot.
Who wants to bet this is wrong?
Baud
@Kay: That’s pretty bad.
Kay
@Baud:
They were more accurate in FL, which was geniunely close, but they still got it wrong in the direction of + Democrat.
Obama (generally) benefited from polling errors the other way in ’12. Romney polled better than he performed.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, …
No matter what happens on November 3, we’ve still got a huge job ahead of us as a country.
(Patrick is Ken’s colleague at Popehat)
Cheers,
Scott.
MisterForkbeard
@James E Powell: Pretty much. They’re trying, really really hard to pretend that she’s just a normal impartial justice and who knows what she’ll do, no can even guess?
It’s silly, because we all know where she’ll land on this. They wouldn’t be breaking every norm, avoiding all scrutiny or even chose her as a nominee in the first place if they didn’t all 100% believe she’d vote favorably for Republicans every single time.
Kay
@Baud:
And Cordray himself was devastated- they all thought he was up- so no one saw that coming. Anyway! Thanks for indulging my newest worry. I just remembered it in time to worry about it :)
Quinerly
@HumboldtBlue: that’s a crazy thread. I just spent 30 minutes with it. Villagers dropping right and left in the heat, masks off eating ice cream and shouting. Secret Service making comments. I went down a lot of rabbit holes on that thread… If 1/2 is true… SUPERSPREADER DEATH EVENT.
Sebastian
@opiejeanne:
Is this for real? Could the rabid rightwing movement in the US actually be the result of a pathogen? It would explain the unique craziness of white Americans and why some immigrants turn batshit crazy.
Another Scott
@Baud: One thing we shouldn’t forget is that on 2018 Election Night and the next morning all the GOP pundits were saying it wasn’t a wave, it wasn’t as bad as predicted, etc., etc., and that became the conventional wisdom. Democrats picked up 41 seats in the House. It was a huge wave – the biggest since 1974 (+49 D).
We have to claim and play-up our victories on November 3. We can’t let the GOP and their enablers take our power before we even get sworn in…
Cheers,
Scott.
TS (the original)
@Kay:
Always have to remember who is counting the votes.
Quinerly
@Quinerly: such a tangent on that Pence Superspreader Death Event thread… I did stumble on my laugh for the evening:
Breaking: “Secetary of State Mike Pompeo tells Fox News he has damning photos of Michael Dukakis and may release them before the election.”
Kay
@Another Scott:
The best thing we have going for us now is D governors in PA, WI and MI. That alone reduces the risk of chicanery by a mile. Can you imagine if we had rabid, desperate Trumpster governors in those states? Fucking nightmare.
lamh36
Ooh another new Biden ad. This one appears to be aimed at the Asian American population!
https://twitter.com/kamalaharris/status/1315100896045477888?s=21
Ruckus
@James E Powell:
3rd grade anything test….
Kent
If an incoming Biden Administration REALLY wanted to troll the GOP they could announce the discovery of Russian bugs in the White House.
Like how the Bush folks lied and said all the Ws were taken off the keyboards by the Clinton folks.
TS (the original)
@lamh36:
What is really needed now – a little bit of calm.
HumboldtBlue
@Quinerly:
It’s mind-boggling.
Jeffro
@geg6: Um okay I get that it has emotional value for you and many others – that’s partially why I’m suggesting it be turned into a museum, a place where every American can visit without too much of an issue ‘cause the POTUS and his family don’t live there anymore.
It’s old, it’s rickety, it’s small, it’s not very secure. Time to move on, and not just because of trumpov.
2 birds, 1 stone kind of thing.
Quinerly
@HumboldtBlue: Pence today at his Superspreader Death Event at The Villages
“This is a debate between two visions,” says Mike Pence. “Say no to socialised medicine and taxpayer-funded abortions”
Jeffro
@MisterForkbeard: Yup. And then the rulings start coming down and – what – are they going to pretend it’s just unbelievable and no one could have predicted but oh well I guess we’re just going to have to learn to live without women having the right to make decisions about their own bodies?
They never think this out. Like the majority is going to just roll over and take it – um, sure Republicans!
Kay
@TS (the original):
I really resist the idea of election fraud. It’s partly because I was a pollworker and I saw up close how many people would have to be involved in a conspiracy. I just don’t believe it.
What elections really are is a state recording process that operates at a frantic pace once or twice a year, but other than that is extremely boring and rule-bound :)
The people who work at Boards of Elections are just not geared in that direction. The pollworker joke is their favorite election outcome is “landslide” and I think that’s true- they don’t care which direction the landslide goes. They want it done without fuss and contested results.
Kent
As the GOP under both Bush and Trump have shown. You get just as much “power” from a popular vote loss and electoral college squeaker as you do with a landslide. There are no shades of presidential power depending on voting margins.
I agree with you. But even if Biden wins with just one vote he should still govern as if he has an absolute mandate, which he does.
Kay
@lamh36:
I loved the mayors ad you posted. Great ad. So much joy in it and “joy” is sorely missing these days.
Jeffro
@opiejeanne:
@Sebastian: Isn’t this just better explained by leader-signaling/tribalism?
I mean, people think they have values/beliefs, but all too often they’re just looking for cues from whomever they consider their leader and then they are All In.
Which in the case of today’s GOP means they make themselves dumber and more hateful than they might otherwise be…without trumpov at the helm.
Enzymer
@RandomMonster: I’m so stealing “Covigula”
MisterForkbeard
@Jeffro: Right. If they’d actually bothered to build consensus and be forthright about what they want to do, I think we’d be a lot better off in general. People might not actually be as upset. They might build a constituency.
But they can’t, because what they want is unpopular enough that they’d lose for 5 or 10 years. So instead, they just lie constantly and gaslight the entire nation about what they’re doing.
Mallard Filmore
@Peale: Right. I suggested a 2 week delay to minimize the ‘Rona dangers to the deep cleaners.
Ken
@Mallard Filmore: That will be easier if, as many expect, Trump heads off to Mar-a-Lago to pout in November and stops even pretending to be presidenting.
HumboldtBlue
Kent
I tend to think that is why the GOP are so relentless in their voter suppression efforts as well as their efforts to limit counting at the other end (reject Dem absentee ballots, etc.). If they actually had the means to manipulate the actual vote count on a widespread scale, none of that would be necessary.
Ballots are also very complex with lots and lots of interlocking down ballot races. I don’t think you could easily just rig one race without causing a detectible cascade effect.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jeffro: The Residence is actually younger that Trump, it was rebuilt in the late 40’s. Completely gutted and rebuilt on a steel frame.
Kay
@Ken:
That’s what I think he’ll do. Sit on his ass down there and Tweet about how he’s a victim. There’s not going to be a shred of grace from these people at any time or under any circumstances. They’ll go out as mean spirited and bitter and aggrieved as they came in.
Donald Trump has never given a speech or held any kind of remembrance for the 200k+ people who have died of this virus. The dead – our dead- are simply inconvenient for the Trump Administration. The dead people make them look bad, so they ignore them and worse, try to get the country to ignore them.
Ihop
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Perhaps, but I have heard that there are many who are fond of the deputy.
I’ll show myself out….
lamh36
@Kay: def my fav new ad of the day. My hometown mayor (NOLA) and my new city mayor (HTown) both features. pretty cool. I love that with Black women mayor is and the answering call from Black male mayors. Great ad
Kent
@Kay: He certainly won’t have the good grace to step back and disappear like George W Bush did in 2008. Say what you want about the Bushes, and they were horrible. But they did at leas have a modicum of class. Trump has zero.
piratedan
well the unspoken part of what will happen post a Trump defeat is how everything, all aspects of the process as far as intelligence is concerned has likely been compromised.
It will have to be rebuilt, with new players, new methods, new tools.
That will take time.
zhena gogolia
@lamh36:
Wonderful.
Gvg
@Jeffro: No.
HumboldtBlue
@Kay:
This clip highlights the lack of class Trump displays.
Old Dan and Little Ann
Has anyone ever seen a commercial for a Supreme Court Nominee before? Barrett just had one on during the ND-FSU game. Fucking puke.
Martin
Sometimes stereotypes get reinforced.
West Va. Woman Plotted with Father to Kill Her Boyfriend — and then Married Her Dad
Chris Johnson
You’ve been dire since you started, dude. Why stop now?
Martin
@Old Dan and Little Ann: Yeah, they did that with Gorsuch.
Kay
@lamh36:
Oh, I teared up. Just so positive and determined. If we get thru this I think we’ll be amazed at what a weight is lifted. Whatever else this country is, this country is miserable. Doesn’t everyone you talk to mention it? Not just political people. Regular people. “How are you?” “Sigh- FINE, we’re getting through”. For one thing everyone has a covid story. Everyone has a sort of long, convoluted story about what happened to them with covid. Some are harrowing, some are just inconvenience or bafflement or frustration but everyone has got one and none of them are happy stories.
So. More ads like that, please. It’s a public service for our mental health.
Ken
@Martin: For a minute I thought that was the woman who spoke at the Republican convention and shot someone during an argument.
Jeffro
@Gvg: Ok. That’s a heck of a case you’re making there. ;)
Lots of feelings all around so no point in arguing. Let’s focus on the fight at hand and then we’ll see how it all shakes out.
NotMax
Just returned from the monthly foray into town. Due to the fecund seed planted by last night’s conversation on a certain almost top 10,000 blog I splurged on a boneless leg of lamb roast at Costco.
;)
CarolPW
@NotMax: And you will be seasoning it with a bit of Dijon I assume?
Jeffro
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yup, a lot’s gone into making it what it is today (80 years after those renovations).
I’m just suggesting – not related to trumpov – that at some point we might want a bigger, modern, more secure facility. Nothing lasts forever. And there’s no reason why future POTUS-es have to live above their office, etc etc.
Way down on the to-do list…but totally do-able.
Jay
@Kay:
I will never forget the dead.
I will never forgive their deaths.
debbie
@Old Dan and Little Ann:
Is that even legal?
NotMax
@CarolPW
Almost surely. Not today (too bushed after the excursion) but am going to play mix ‘n’ match with ingredients from various recipes in order to try preparing it in the Instant Pot. Already decided the cooking liquid is going to start with one-third white wine to two-thirds water, to be made into a gravy after fat is skimmed once roast is done.
Ken
@Jeffro: There are… issues with moving the President’s residence. I can’t get into details except with fellow 49th-degree and higher Masons. Let’s just say that we would have to budget for redesign of the DC road grid, relocation of the Library of Congress and National Archives, and new plates for the reverse of the two-dollar bill.
Rebuilding it in place is no problem, and the President doesn’t even have to live there – but of course will need to visit the site on the solstices and equinoxes.
TS (the original)
@Kay:
I wasn’t thinking of the workers. Given what they do for the payment involved, they are marvellous. My part of the world, poll workers are very well paid & I have never seen a voter line of more than 20/30 people (and did we complain about that).
My thoughts are the machines and the software. Conspiracy or not, they are just too easy to manipulate. Add in the fact that it appears so many postal votes may not arrive, or may not be counted – I call that the people in charge playing with the vote count – not the poll workers.
MisterForkbeard
@Kent: They’re going to pretend that Hillary was constantly intruding and so on to justify Trump’s ridiculous antics.
Villago Delenda Est
This is the story of a 3 year old trapped in a 74 year old body facing his ultimate demise.
He deserves to suffer.
Villago Delenda Est
@debbie: Seeing as Donald and his lickspittles do not give a damn about the law, the question is moot.
TS (the original)
@Quinerly:
Everyone he is talking to has socialised medicine & no-one he is talking to has any need of an abortion.
100% they are there to party. No-one heard a word he said.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Jeffro: 70 years.
The Moar You Know
@geg6: look, believe me I get the significance of the building but it has had an open door to anyone Trump or any of his friends wanted to let in there for FOUR FUCKING YEARS with no security, no logging of who went in and out, and no monitoring of what anyone had done in there. In order to secure it, truly secure it, it will have to be dismantled down to the frame and rebuilt. A building that the president can’t work in securely is useless as even a bed for said president. The president works 24/7.
I am truly sorry, but Trump’s taken the White House from us as well. In the end, it’s only a building. Our national security has been violated enough. It’s going to require some rather extreme steps to regain it. And that is not optional. We simply must.
I’d remind everyone that he’s also killed a quarter million Americans. If you want to get outraged about something he’s done, get outraged about that.
Jay
https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/10/man-seen-in-area-of-homemade-explosive-at-portland-protest-ided-as-ex-navy-seal/?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true
Old Dan and Little Ann
@Martin: They made her look like the girl next door. It was nauseating.
Jeffro
@?BillinGlendaleCA: 70-80 years ;)
The Moar You Know
well the unspoken part of what will happen post a Trump defeat is how everything, all aspects of the process as far as intelligence is concerned has likely been compromised.
It will have to be rebuilt, with new players, new methods, new tools.
That will take time.
@piratedan: That’s the bigger picture of what I’m talking about. I do IT security. There is a much larger picture that needs to be addressed as well, but I work with that aspect only tangentially so I’m not really able to comment on any of that save to say that all of its a problem.
Villago Delenda Est
@Dorothy A. Winsor: It is ALWAYS projection with these mofos.
Jeffro
@The Moar You Know: agreed.
for the record/for what it’s worth, I’ve wished that the WH would be turned into a museum and the POTUS work out of much bigger, more modern, and more secure spaces (as well as having a separate residence) for years.
I know, it’s a weird fixation but it just seems to make sense on multiple levels.
Moving on…
Jeffro
@Ken: I’m not talking about rebuilding it where it is, or even in DC. Move it somewhere else. Hell, for all I care, move it to Kansas.
Also…very funny! ;)
NotMax
From the
penkeyboard of the redoubtable Charlie Cook:dmsilev
@The Moar You Know: Well, the WH was completely gutted and rebuilt during the Truman Administration. The front facade was maintained during the construction so that there would still be something for people to look at that was recognizable as the WH, but the structure and interior were all rebuilt from scratch. So, there’s precedent.
Jeffro
OT (maybe) but it looks like the TCN…er…RWNJs are staring to go all-in on this “court packing!!!1!” thing, as if that will and/or should save them at the polls.
Oh noes! The naughty Dems are going to pack (expand) the Court when we’ve worked so hard to first pack the Court (by shrinking it to 8 during Obama’s term) and then pack the Court again (by quickly nominating Gorsuch, and going all in on Kavanaugh, and now Barrett). How could they POSSIBLY think of undoing all that hard work we had when we were in power, now that they are about to take power.
Absolutely, positively, fuck. these. people. I hope that Biden & Co respond according to whatever the Rs pull off here. If they ram Barrett through, go big and add four seats to SCOTUS and double the federal judiciary. The case is ironclad: if the only rule that matters is who’s in power, well, here’s your answer, GOP.
Or as Jamelle Bouie put it: trumpov losing office is the price he pays for his corruption; if that’s it, the GOP gets off scot-free for enabling his corruption in exchange for judges and tax cuts. Never mind that adding judges and restoring progressive tax rates is the right thing to do anyway – it needs to be done so that the GOP understands there is a price to be paid for their actions as well.
Quinerly
@TS (the original): yep. Who writes these speeches?
piratedan
@The Moar You Know: I think I know what you’re saying… for me it’s incredibly daunting to think that about what awaits a potential Biden Administration.
I do not know if the CIA or the NSA or any of the other myriad intelligence services that are part and parcel of the IC are compromised and if so, to what extent. One place I would start is to simply fire all of the existing Contractors and their companies. In house it all, re-vette everyone and rebuild it. Anyone in place over seas, recall them. Anyone hired by the last administration gets probation and re-evaluated immediately.
Start again with Humint because I can almost guarantee a whole boatload of the existing IT could well be compromised or at the very minimum, suspect. The current Administration (AND THE FUCKING GOP) do not appear to have distanced themselves from the Russians and for all we know, could be performing a “fire-sale” or auctioning off intel to the highest bidder, the Turks, the Chinese, Isrealis, Saudis… these guys are driven by what’s in it for them and have shown us exactly who the fuck that they are.
We have an entire Administration of guys like Ellis from Die Hard, and I shudder to think of the damage done and the rebuilding that will be required and the foreign policy mending that also has to take place.
Maybe we build it back better. I sure as hell hope that they have more than a few civil service wonks in the fold to try and make Government functional again.
Enzymer
@rikyrah: who are they? I’m loving this but having trouble finding more. Help
NotMax
@Qunierly
Spit out by the John Birch-o-tron Mark 1A.
//
M31
here are some pics of the White House reconstruction in the Truman era — looks like they kept the facade but that’s about it. I think the original structure had become ludicrously unsafe
Kay
@TS (the original):
Why do you believe mailed ballots won’t be counted? Voter error?
I think the thing to remember with more votes by mail is it means fewer votes in person on election day, which makes election day easier for workers and will allow them to switch more workers over to scanning/tabulating mailed ballots when they complete the (lower volume) of election day votes.
If it’s run right it could be a wash as far as reporting vote totals- take about as long as mostly e-day votes would take.
Anne Laurie
New post up top, if you’re looking for one…
Omnes Omnibus
@Jeffro: Great. Now you’ve got two bees in your bonnet.
M31
more about the White House — the Wikipedia article is good too, man I love reading stuff about when new pipes and so on were installed over the years they just cut away existing beams to fit them in, so an original 14-inch beam because 2 inches. Seems pretty safe to me, I mean, what could go wrong?
Jeffro
@Omnes Omnibus: ??? Bees in my bonnet, or in others’ bonnets?
I’m just here for the reasoned discourse that is the hallmark of all BJ threads and discussions. ;)
Aleta
Today in the town where I was volunteering, which always votes majority Dem nationally, I was surprised to hear and see one of those Tr truck parades (crossing a bridge 6 blocks away). A LOT of trucks (most must have traveled from elsewhere) being extra noisy and obnoxious. Because aggressive exhaust systems gather votes like bunnies lay easter eggs.
I looked it up on the news tonight, reported as ‘hundreds’ driving through several towns in the 2nd district. I looked for photos on twitter; saw almost none but found this inept lie posted today by the R candidate for the USHouse (links altered) :
“
@ MET*Victoryjust surpassed 1.8 million voter contacts!The energy for
@ real*T*in the state is smashing records!”Funny thing is, Maine’s population is only around 1.3 + million.
Also saw a photo of the Watch Party on VP debate night at the ‘T-victory field office’ in Bangor (city where T did a rally in 2016, and flew into a few months ago to pretend to care about fishermen). Total of nine people in front of the TV. Mostly the same people as the 6 in another photo posted the same day as “training new volunteers on how to knock doors.”
So, truck energy: belly out. Field office energy: belly up.
randy khan
The White House physician’s statement saying it’s okay for Trump to be around other people is a masterpiece of not answering the question, specifically the question of whether Trump has tested negative. You can read it to say he has and you can read it to say he hasn’t, but there’s no plain statement one way or the other.
My guess, for what it’s worth, is that he hasn’t tested negative, but that his viral load has been declining. My other guess is that we’ll never actually find out.
HumboldtBlue
@M31:
That’s fascinating, thanks.
Bobby Thomson
I’m glad we seem to have moved on from the “military doctors are bound by two oaths and would never lie” bullshit.
TS (the original)
@M31: Thanks for the link – most interesting to see.
brantl
@Wag: Not having a fever just means that your virus load is not increasing, it is not a guarantee that you can’t still shed active virus. Antibodies have to physically run into virus to neutralize them. Even if you are no longer symptomatic, you could still be shedding viable virus.